August 18, 2010

Crazy about Maisy



Little One is just crazy about Maisy! Now I must admit that I have definitely encouraged this craze, because I too am a big fan. I discovered Maisy a number of years ago, when Big One was my only little one :)  My first introduction was not a book, but one of the delightful Maisy Dvds. What I love about the Dvds is the beautiful, clear, well-spoken English, narrated by Neil Morrissey (also the voice of Bob the Builder), as well as the simplicity of the pictures and of course the fun, playful way that Maisy goes about everyday activities. On the Maisy website, she is described as "a colourful, lovable mouse, with a nose for adventure". A perfect description I think.

Little One really started to enjoy the Maisy books at about 18 months of age and what I love to do when I read them to him, is to leave out some words and wait...as he becomes familiar with the story, he fills in the missing words.

Now I have never ever seen a Maisy toy of any sort here in our shops and so I thought it would be ever so cute to make a Maisy doll out of felt. You may recall me saying that I just don't sew, well I decided to give it a bash and am surprised to say that I actually enjoyed  it! Here is a little tutorial:

I traced Maisy's body from the book, "Maisy Big, Maisy Small", directly onto the white felt. I then pinned two pieces of white felt together and cut out the body. This is not a great photo, but this project was done at night.



I then traced the clothing onto paper, attached it to my felt with pins and repeated the cutting out, each time pinning two pieces of felt together. (I wanted Maisy to have a back and a front). I stitched the body together by hand (filled it with batting) and then glued all the remaining pieces to Maisy on both sides. 


My only regret is that I didn't sew the clothes on too, as I used quite a bit of glue and am uncomfortable with the glue smell, especially as I am aware of the toxins that glue can release. Other than that, I thought she turned nicely.


If you are not familiar with Maisy, be sure to check out her lovely website, called the Maisy's Fun Club. It has awesome colouring pictures, games and best of all, a few of her books that can be read online! To read "Maisy Makes Lemonade" , click here.

17 comments:

katherinemarie said...

ahhhhhhh your maisy is so DARLING!!!! So darn darling! We love maisy too... I thought if I had a girl--- i'd even like to name her Maisy. :):)

Christianne @ Little Page Turners said...

It turned out adorable!

silly eagle books said...

too cute! Juliet is in love with maisy as well! I love how you made this doll--thought you had bought it when I saw the first pic! Nice work!

Sheri@childmade.com said...

Great tute! I love 3D characters that relate to stories. Such a visual enhancement for the little listener. Thanks for sharing! I've featured your link on this week's newsletter.

Katie said...

That is so stinkin cute! I love how you solved things by making your own version.

Susan-Chasing Marcus said...

My daughter LOVES Maisy, and it is getting hard to find Maisy things here in the US. What a great idea. I can not wait to make one for her.

RedTedArt said...

What a lovely little maisy! Clever you.. have so many things I want to make, this is def going on the make list.

Would love for you to take part in my new link up Kids Get Crafty over at Red Ted Art. Link goes up every Wednesday... current link is http://www.redtedart.com/?p=3056

Hope to see you there!

Maggy

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

You did such a good job! It's adorable.

RedTedArt said...

"Thank you" for linking up :-) hopefully see you again next week!!

Maggy

April said...

Believe it or not, we have only read one maisy book here when my little girl was younger. It was about Maisy taking a train. Very cute toy, I remember seeing one similar at Ikat Bag blog. Coming thru from stART

sbswtp said...

What a great project!!! It is adorable :) Nice job :)

Emily Thompson said...

very cute! saw you on tot tues, what a great way to make the most of a book.

Ticia said...

She turned out super cute! I love it.

Anonymous said...

WOW, the Maisy doll is absolutely fantastic. I love it. Well done.

Annette W. said...

I'm tempted to make it even though my 4 yo is out of the Maisy phase! Beautiful!

Isil Simsek said...

This is so pretty.My little ones are Maisy fans,too.I would love it if you link up to my weekly children's book meme Book Sharing Monday
http://smilinglikesunshine1.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-sharing-mondayflyaway-katie.html

Unknown said...

Gorgeous! You just KNOW I need to make one now to go with our 5-a-day books this week! Love it (and love Maisy)

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